IPOH, July 23 — Police are investigating a report lodged by a teacher over a Facebook posting made by a man said to have touched on the religious sensitivity.
District police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Ali Tamby said the 35-year-old teacher had lodged the report at the district police station on Sunday.
“The complainant had seen a screenshot of the post originally posted by a man using the name Balan Pillai. The post was said to be insulting towards Prophet Muhammad in particular and Muslims in general,” he said.
“The complainant also sees the post could lead to religious tension,” he added.
In a statement here today, Ali said although the posting could not be detected, it had since been shared 2,300 times by other Facebook users.
Police, added Ali, had taken the complainant’s statements.
“The complainant did check the Facebook of the person who posted the alleged defamatory post but it could not be found, leading him to suspect the post have been deleted,” Ali added.
The complainant, said Ali, did not know the suspect personally and this was the first time he was lodging a police report.
“He made the report as he did not wish to see the post going viral,” added Ali.
The case is being investigated under Section 298 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.
Section 298 of the Penal Code is for uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of another person and Section 233 of the Multimedia and Communications Act 1998 is for improper use of network facilities.
